One of the core functions of explanation is to support prediction and generalization. However, some explanations license a broader range of predictions than others. For instance, an explanation about biology could be presented as applying to a specific case (e.g., "this bear") or more generally across "all animals." The current…

Subjects of 4, 5, 7, and 20 years of age performed a speeded classification task designed to isolate sources of interference in visual selective attention. While subjects of all ages were unable to avoid processing distractors, older subjects were better able to inhibit distractor processing. (RH)

Two experiments tested a model of young children's induction that specified contributions of linguistic labels and perceptual similarity to children's induction. Results support model predictions and point to a developmental shift, from treating linguistic labels as an attribute contributing to similarity to treating them as markers of a common…

Third-grade children were taught efficient use of a self-monitoring strategy in preparing for recall. One group was trained on both free and serial recall; others on only one of the two tasks. A posttest was given one week after training, and a follow-up test of some children was given nine months later. (Author/BE)

Undertaken within the framework of the best example theory of categorization, this study investigates category acquisition as a function of initial exposure to only good exemplars and as a function of exposure to single as opposed to multiple exemplars. Six severely handicapped children, ranging in age from 8 to 18 years, participated. (Author/MP)

Tests the effects of stimulus variability on overgeneralization and overdiscrimination errors in children and adults. The subjects (n=64), adults and five-, seven-, and nine-year-old children, participated in a visual discrimination task. (CM)

Reports the findings of a series of long-term maintenance tests and a generalization phase given to a group of educable mentally retarded children more than one year after they were trained to use self-checking routines for estimating test readiness. (JMB)

Compared spelling of children who speak General American English and those who speak Southern British English. Found that spelling errors of children with spelling ages of 6 to 7.5 reflected characteristics of their dialect, and that at older spelling ages, British children made overgeneralization errors reflecting their dialect. Concluded that…